My dad has decided to get more serious about gardening in retirement. His neighbor has a trailer he has access to for transporting materials - lumber, stone, mulch, dirt, logs, log splitter, etc. Current car is an Audi A4 2.0T manual - definitely not the right tool for the job.
He wants a vehicle that can take a 2" trailer hitch and tow a 3,500 pound (gross) trailer. He loves his Audi and doesn't want to trade handling/performance for towing ability. He wants a vehicle built on a car platform that drives like an Audi and can tow. I'm not aware of anything on the market that meets these criteria. Some crossover SUVs claim towing weights in that range, but most are not to my dad's liking performance-wise. Things like the Honda Ridgeline are out of the question - even though that is car-like, it's still too far on the truck end of the spectrum.
My suggestions to him were:
1. Keep the A4, it has tons of life left and is the car he loves. Rent a U-Haul pickup truck on those occasions when you need that kind of capability.
2. If you find you need truck capability frequently enough to make U-Haul rental a PITA, then buy a used mid-sized pickup for garden purposes.
Questions:
1. Does a car exist that meets my dad's criteria?
2. Any other scenarios I should consider?
He wants a vehicle that can take a 2" trailer hitch and tow a 3,500 pound (gross) trailer. He loves his Audi and doesn't want to trade handling/performance for towing ability. He wants a vehicle built on a car platform that drives like an Audi and can tow. I'm not aware of anything on the market that meets these criteria. Some crossover SUVs claim towing weights in that range, but most are not to my dad's liking performance-wise. Things like the Honda Ridgeline are out of the question - even though that is car-like, it's still too far on the truck end of the spectrum.
My suggestions to him were:
1. Keep the A4, it has tons of life left and is the car he loves. Rent a U-Haul pickup truck on those occasions when you need that kind of capability.
2. If you find you need truck capability frequently enough to make U-Haul rental a PITA, then buy a used mid-sized pickup for garden purposes.
Questions:
1. Does a car exist that meets my dad's criteria?
2. Any other scenarios I should consider?
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